27 December, 2006

Collections Australia Network

In 2004 the Cultural Ministers Council (CMC), through the Australian Government Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) provided the funds for the redevelopment of the Australian Museums and Galleries On Line (http://amol.org.au/) website.

The CMC is a joint initiative of the Australian Government and Australian State and Territory Governments in partnership with the Australian cultural sector.

The Collections Australia Network (CAN) portal is intended to be the public gateway to collecting institutions across Australia including the small to medium regional institutions.

Besides providing access to nationwide information on Australia's cultural heritage, members of the public can also access an individual institution's own CAN website to explore its specific content, including:

collection descriptions and objectsexhibitions and general eventsnewsuseful tools, links, resources for people working in the sector

A private, web-accessible area of the portal has been created for CAN partners. Here they can access sector information as well as tools to manage the content on their own institution's CAN-provided website.

Only not-for-profit, permanent organisations with publicly accessible collections (or groups representing the interests of such organisations) are eligible to apply for CAN Partner status.